Help with single slit diffraction (fraunhoffer)

AI Thread Summary
The intensity of light on a screen in single slit diffraction varies due to the superposition of waves from different parts of the slit, which travel different distances. This variation leads to constructive and destructive interference at different points on the screen, affecting the overall intensity pattern. The interference pattern is a result of the phase differences between the waves arriving at each point. Understanding this phenomenon can be further explored through specific formulas that describe intensity variations. The discussion emphasizes the importance of wave behavior in optical phenomena.
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Why( and how) does the intensity of the wave vary along a screen perpendicular to the optical axis?
 
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The light arriving at the screen is the superposition (sum) of waves from the various parts of the slit. In general, these waves each travel slightly different distances to reach a particular point on the screen, and so they interfere with each other. The amount of interference varies from one point to another on the screen.

Examples:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/fraungeo.html#c1

One way to derive the formula that gives the intensity at various points on the screen:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/sinint.html#c1
 
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